Momentum...... 6 weeks to take it to the next level

Last week was a great week for training, a week that was well thought out, about when I would train and the diet I would have. I watched a program on SKY that said when weight training / exercising and getting into shape its 70% diet, 30% training that constitutes getting to where you want to be? Open for discussion I guess?

My thoughts are that they both go hand in hand and that what ever you do has to be sustainable for the long term which is an aspect of my training that i am still striving for and feel I constantly will be buts it what i / we all do now that makes a difference.

Momentum Definition

The impetus of a body resulting from its motion
Driving power or strength

Planning and Prep for your goals is invaluable and with the hectic lifestyle of my wife, two kids and work, trying to have a balance and the energy to fit in the training sessions is hard. On the back of last week I feel I have found momentum.

I did a total of 4 one hour sessions. Dont sound alot but I focused on all areas of the body in chest, triceps, biceps, back, shoulders, legs and some real work done on my abs. Apart from doing the sessions I felt they where quality sessions by:

1. Pushing myself to failure on the weights on every muscle group



2. Doing abs til failure after every



3. High intensity on the bike and doing 5 miles on the trainer after each weights session

Based on the above statement of 30% training constitutes the way you want to be, and the good weights sessions I had last week, I backed this up with a really strong week on the diet front. How did I do this?

1. Sticking to regular eating times

2. Eating key proteins such as eggs, chicken, nuts and fish

3. Due to been on the road with work alot, I have backed this up with taking protien shakes twice a day when training both pre and post workouts.

4. Herbal tea and Coffee as a source of caffine and herbal tea at other times.

These areas of training are nothing new to me, I have known them for a long time now but its applying them on a regular basis. Momentum is a great thing, it gives you a start on something you are pursuing or wanting to achieve. Based on the week I had last week, I really cant wait for next week and taking the aspects of the training that went well into the week and ensuring I get a second week of great training.

So, whats happening 6 weeks today? Me and my Wingman DR B. Thurlow are doing the below ride I planned out today on the 27th Dec. He is back in Hull with the girls to see his family so I have put the below together. I sent the below to BT on email and along with myself I have challenged him to 120 miles on the bike trainer between now and ride, that only 20miles a week. Challenge set.

The 27th Dec Ride........

1/ Depart 7am Either Elloughton or 225 CL.
2/ Head to Walkington via same route as before.
3/ Follow back road to the outskirts of Beverley.
4/ Beverley to Bainton. Its an A road but should be pretty quite. Some great rolling hills which are great combinations of some steep short climbs and quick rapid decents.
5/ Bainton to Pocklington via the B1246. Again, havent been on some time since been on the motorbike but awesome roads in the middle of nowhere which should be really quite. Again, good combination of hills and decents but if memory serves me right there are more decents so will be great for increasing average speed.
6/ Pocklington to Shiptonthorpe via the A1079. We are only on this for 2miles and hopefully wont be too busy.
7/ Shiptonthorpe to Home on Spalding Moor via the A614. Straight flat road, aim for 19mph avg speed on that section with some serious slip streaming.
8/ Depending on how we feel, choice of two routes. Take the route we took before heading towards to Selby, then howden, Gilberdyke, Newport, North Cave, South Cave and then Elloughton. If we do the other shorter route (probably wont!) Holme on Spalding Moor to Howden to join the Gilberdyke / South Cave / Elloughton road.
9/ If we go from 225 CL , we will do spout hill head back via another challenging couple of hills then those mega rolling hills back towards raywell.

Monday Night training

Biceps and Shoulders - I made this a real intensive workout, Medium rate reps but with only 20 sec breaks between each one. I focused on all areas of the bicep and the forearms. After 20 mins my arms where bits and I was now doing my reps to failure. I felt like I had given my arms one of the best workouts for a while, despite not the quickest but certainly the most effective. I then did my shoulders to failure.

The key difference this session is keeping going through the pain barrier and at the end of the session doing 150 sit ups....... Great session, got the week off to a good start.

Tuesday Night Training

Tonights session for me was all about taking my head somewhere else as its been one of those days, cant really say why but not one I want to repeat on a regualr basis. As a result I sat on the bike trainer for 8 miles focusing on split sets. 1 mile at 16mph, 1 mile at 23mph. Felt good and as this is the first time I have tried this session its given me the benchmark to do 10 miles next time. Again, as with Mondays session my legs are in bits now and feel like jelly.

Thursday Night Training

Just a pure chest session til failure on every set followed by 250 sit ups. The big difference in this session would be I would normally not do sit ups due to, well really not been bothered! Hopefully this is going to be the difference in doing sit ups at the end of session.

Sunday Training

A killer arms session to the piont of not being able to move them for some 1 hour after! My arms felt like rocks for about an hour after. I always remember watching Arnie on youtube doing a training session and talking about the "pump." He believed the "pump" was like having sex! He talks in his distinctive Austrian accent about training your muscles to the piont of explosion and maximum tension so they feel really tight. He talks about how he feels like he is having sex at the gym and at home, "Its like im sex all the time!" Maybe not to the extent of having sex but feeling the "pump" like I did today is a pretty good feeling and for me determins on how much of a good session you have had.

My objectives for this week are purely CV and getting out on the bike. I only did 8 miles on the bike this week and I am aiming on doing 20 a week so feeling like I have had a good week on the weights I am going to aim to do 4 interval sessions on the bike this week and focus on building the time up on the bike.